Society must be helped to take responsibility for the roots of violence and the "cancerous mechanism" which makes violence engender further violence, the Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said.
Dr Martin also criticised what he described as "two-tiered" value system in 'respectable' society which was happy to sanitise the violence and exploitation involved in drug use.
In a newspaper article today, he said that almost every morning, the first headline on the news was about gardai opening a murder investigation, or about a young man who had been stabbed, or about "a number of people in hospital with serious knife wounds".
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin
"We know the daily litany. And yet there are days when we are stunned out of our numbness by a particular horror detail and we ask 'what next?' Dr Martin said.
"Crime and violence are found the world over. Ireland is not top of the list. But the rate of homicide in Ireland is rising every year. The perpetrators are, sadly, very often young people. The organisers do not hesitate to involve even young children in their crime world."
Dr Martin added: "Every incident of violence damages the victim; it damages the perpetrator; it damages families, damages a community and damages society."
"There is a cancerous mechanism which makes violence engender further violence. We see this in retaliation. We see it in a culture where carrying knives seems to be normal and where knives are used at the slightest provocation."
In the article in today's Irish Independent, the Archbishop said much violence was linked with organised crime.
"Criminality must be investigated and repressed. The gardaí need our recognition, support and co-operation in their efforts," he said.
"I have spoken about the two-tiered value system in 'respectable' society which is happy to sanitise the violence and exploitation out of the drug equation when it comes down to so-called 'recreational' use of cocaine."
Dr Martin said "politically correct" expressions of shock and regret when someone tragically becomes a victim of drugs can seem to be just empty words.
"Perhaps they are more. Perhaps they are a cry for help, a cry for a real answer. Perhaps they are an expression of a fear and uneasiness which sectors of society have lost the ability to put into clear words.
"Society must be helped to take responsibility for the roots of violence. Society must be helped to shape its own future and not be dictated to by criminal groups, vested economic interests or superficial ideologies."
In his Easter weekend article, Dr Martin said it is time for Christians to announce the message 'The Lord is Risen' to the public square they live in.
"It is not just the task of bishops; it is time for lay Christians to reappear as a community within the community, including the political community."
He said a culture of violence will only be overcome by the creation of what Pope Paul VI called "a civilisation of love".
"We can all, believers and non-believers, work together in this task as community. Indeed, we must all do so," he said.
Irish bishops, meanwhile, will accompany over 1,100 people on an Easter pilgrimage to Lourdes this weekend.
Some 1,120 people will take part in the Irish Pilgrimage Trust (IHCPT) annual pilgrimage from tomorrow, Easter Sunday, until next Saturday.
They will depart on flights from Belfast, Dublin, Cork, Shannon and Knock, accompanied by Bishop Christopher Jones, Bishop of Elphin, and Bishop Dermot O'Mahony, President of the Irish Pilgrimage Trust and Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Dublin.